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Rising Dawn: Dreading Darkness
Previous Chapter - Grieving Death: The Search and Rescue The Final March The following day, the mages of Blazing Soul and Phantom Breaker who were leading the charge against Nature Hunter had gathered on the edge of Utopia. An eerie silence had fallen over the city; with many of the citizens taking shelter at the Phantom Complex, leaving the only things roaming the street to be the occasional stray animal. A small hooded creature flew down a dusty ally, looking down every side street for signs of stragglers in the evacuation. After a few turns, it returned to its master Waylind, who dismissed it with a flick of his wrist. "City's clear." He told the guild master. "What are you going to do once you clear us a path?" Zumma asked. "It'll pretty much take you out of the game after using that sword, won't it?" "I leave it to you all. I will have to force myself to meditate and keep my simple levels in check, I won't be able to use Nutrient Magic to heal myself due to the food supplies being spread out" Jayapura said holding his giant sword on his shoulder as he looked at the group. "Come on old man, I mean you gotta have more in you than just that" June said looking at him with concern as he chuckled. "I will be fine, all that matters is getting you guys over to her territory, she must be stopped once and for all" Jayapura said with a determined voice. Rift, who was leaning against one of the houses still standing in the area, out on a cocky grin. "Oh, we'll stop her alright, no tricks this time." His eyes stayed hidden behind his dark shades but they could all tell he didn't feel an inch of fear, despite technically losing against their target Sabriel in their last confrontation. "Let's hope so, come, we must depart immediately" Jayapura said as everyone started heading towards the Nature Hunter guild, located again by Rift and June while the group was getting their barring's. They traveled through the dense jungles as they felt that everything seemed to be normal, no forms of new earthquakes occurring every few seconds, no beasts attempting to attack them, the once eruptive Genosha was shown to be silent and calm. "Wow, I did not expect this...." June said looking around at the silence. "Yeah." Leo added, looking around at the landscapes awe inspiring beauty. "Dad always told us that this place was really dangerous. Guess I thought that meant it was baron too." He admitted. "It's actually kind of nice." "A few months back was the day Genosha would be destroyed, and so far, the magic has keep it under control quite strongly." Jayapura replied. "Still think your nut's for staying here." They heard Raven shout from the back of the group, standing between Clair and Terra. "You and red skin seem real damn fixed on trying to get this place under control." Walking behind them, Zumma pushed the back of Raven's head down roughly. Trying to stop him from picking a fight. "Pipe down pyro." Raven grumbled at him while Clair glared, though Zumma ignored them both and looked to the guild master. "How much farther is it?" "Not much longer from what Rift's report told me, but we ought to be careful, no idea what she may have in store for us" Jayapura said as the others began talking amongst themselves about what possible outcome could come from the war. True to their information, a large clearing appeared through the trees, big enough to be called more of a plain than a clearing. Most of the ground spewed noxious yellow gas though deep cracks in the earth, and magma occasionally bubbled up and burst over the landscape. Most noticeably of all however was the giant castle like structure that stood at the center of the chaos. Tiny lights in the distance indicated it to be inhabited, though the near toxic terrain made that notion seem impossible. This was a new sight for many of them, though for a few it only stood as a reminder of what they were there to do. "Looks cozy." Raven joked, finally breaking the silence that had fallen over them all. "Though, I'd say it needs more..." He thought for a moment, though he gained a big grin when he apparently had his answer. "Fire." Jayapura took in a deep breath and unsheathe Grand Shogun, "Be prepared, once I breach the barrier and stabilize the entire area, you will only have four hours, by then you must end her or else the instability will result in it being sunk into the abyss" He said before beginning to concentrate his energy. Rift violently slammed his fists together and grinned his toothy grin. "All the time in the world." Jayapura concentrated with everything he had as he began to concentrate, releasing an insane amount of energy from his body as if the area was breaking apart from the middle of the entire continent. However, instead of it being directed into the air, all the concentrated energy was going into the blade itself, causing it to glow golden. A strange rumbling in the earth drew their attention away from the guild master. Closer to the castle, the earth seemed to have come alive. Molten rock boiled up from the surface, building on top of itself to take on a somewhat humanoid appearance. The outside solidified into a sort of skin, while a jagged jaw formed underneath a single molten eye. It slowly turned to look in the direction of the group, giving off an intense wave of heat despite being nearly a mile away. Zumma stepped up to the edge of the clearing. "Whatever you’re doing, I'd do it fast guild master." Jayapura lifted the sword high into the air before stabbing the very ground beneath him, causing the energy to create a loop as it suddenly stopped everything around them, all movements of nature were ceased as they seemed to be in a time stop, "Hurry, you must get in!" He said as the barrier also showed to be down as well. The Blazing Soul mage’s took off running in that instant with Zumma leading the charge. Rocks began rising from the ground to form a path under his feet, allowing he and everyone behind him safe passage over the noxious terrain below. The golem appeared frozen in its tracks, though soon several small black objects began rising from the castle in the distance. Growing closer and closer, the group soon made them out to be a vast flock of flying monsters heading straight at them. By the time they were half way between the castle and the group of charging mages, Zumma held his hand out over the side of his path, using Gravity Magic to amass an array of rocks, before launching them forwards with a tossing motion. the stones tore through the monsters, though it didn't appear to lower their numbers as he looked back at his companions. "Hope you guys are ready for a fight." "May the spirits be with you" Jayapura said struggling to keep everything in control as he allows the others to enter the area. The flock had nearly reached them, just as Zumma came to an abrupt stop. His fist shot outwards, blasting a clean path through the swarm, while his other hand reached back and gripped the rock behind him. "Hold on guys, kick her ass for me." Everyone dropped to the ground as the ground they stood on was tossed into the air, shooting through the gap in the flock by Zumma's last attack. Just after clearing through the last of the monsters, Raven looked back and slammed his hand down on the rock just as it began to lose momentum. "4th Spell: Pele!" A burning magic circle cut into the bottom of the rock, which erupted into a burning Jetstream moments later. The extra boost propelled their stone transport much closer to the castle, while the swarm of monsters closed the gap behind them. The rock began to fall again just as a flash of lightning shot out from the castles roof, shattering their tiny transport to pieces. The mages flew in all different directions, using their own ingenuity to come to a landing as fragments of stone crashed through the dark guild's outer wall. Though scattered, every one of them made it inside, and Zumma smirked to himself as the monsters closed in on him. "Alright, time to play exterminator." He cracked his knuckles before holding out both hands. "Fall!" He screamed, using his magic to force several of the creatures to the ground, and the noxious gas below. Burning flesh and wounded cries filled the air, and Zumma simply smiled up at his numerous opponents. "Come on you monsters, I can do this all day!" Meanwhile Back at The Guild All seemed calm as everyone had been given a room and were now enjoying some peace and quiet, especially the Phantom Breakers as many were all in the lobby, taking a breather from the patrols and helping with the guild's new temporary guests. In the far maternity ward, Kat could be seen cooing one of the babies as she smiled and softly placing it in the crib as she softly closed the door and went to the lobby to search for her young sister. She wandered through the guilds many halls, occasionally stopping to assist someone when needed, looking for a familiar face. Room after room held only strangers to her; mostly evacuated civilians waiting for the outcome of their attack. She rounded a corner to see Minerva watching over a small group of children, and thought it best to ask. "Hey Minerva?" the children were sent away as she approached. "Have you seen my sis around here at all?" "Well the last time I saw her was when she went to go check in with some of the new refugees up at the entrance, so she might be helping there." She said as one of the kids started to cry with her going to comfort her. "Oh." Kat replied. "I could have sworn I checked there already." She thought back to traveling though the guild, but had no recollection of running into Fiona at all. A small thought formed in her mind, but Kat quickly pushed it away and turned for the door. "Thanks for the help." She waved back at Minerva, who waved in turn, then stepped back out into the hallway. The thought from before returned, the thought that Fiona had run off to try and confront their mother with the others. She shook her head to chase the thought away, reminding herself that Fiona promised to not do such a thing. The thought persisted however, as Kat made her way through the halls of Phantom Breaker once more. "I have to trust her." Kat reminded herself out loud. "Just like I wanted her to do for me." She thought back to the first few weeks Fiona had spent living with her, and the fight they had one particular day. Flashback: One year ago A few weeks had past since the Blazing Soul Guild had been introduced to the long lost sister of Kat, Fiona, but many of their attempts to get her to open up, but were unsuccessful as she often only spent her time alone in the corner. Getting ready to head out for the day, Kat stood in the half open doorway and looked back into the other room. "I'm leaving now. Last chance to come with me Fiona." "Where are you going... Back to that place?" She said looking over to her as she waited for a response. "Yes... Back to that place." Kat repeated somewhat impatiently. "What's the matter Fiona? You were so enthusiastic about being here for the first few days, now you avoid us all like we make you sick." She leaned back against the frame of the door, seeing Fiona wrapped in a blanket in the corner. "What's with you lately?" "Excuse me if I don't share the same excitement as I did. It's not like I have anyone else with me, and you always go to that place.... I just find it disturbing..." She said glaring at her sister. "What's so disturbing about it?" Kat asked surprised. She thought back for a second, trying to remember if something had happened at the guild. "Did Raven say something to you?" Fiona stayed silent, much to Kat's annoyance. "If something happened, tell me already!" "I try not to talk with any of them...." Fiona said going to sit down on their couch with her back away from her sister. "So what's wrong then?" Kat crossed her arms, getting more annoyed by her sisters attitude. "I just rather not go to that place...." Was all Fiona said before picking up a magazine. Kat grit her teeth. "Fine, just sit there for the rest of your life then!" She screamed, storming out a moment later and slamming the door behind her. Fiona ignored her sister's outburst, even when the sounds of her stomping down the stairs echoed through the building. She stared at her magazine for what seemed like hours; not actually reading, just too lost in thought to be bothered turning the page. She lost track of time, but was brought back to reality when a knock came at the door. "Who is it?" She asked looking at the door, walking over to see who it was through the hole as she found it to be Jainaas she opened the door, "My sister went to the guild, she's not here". She tried to close the door, but Jaina stuck her peg leg in the door to stop her. "Good thing I'm not here to talk to her then." Jaina barged past Fiona and flopped down on the couch, which did little to improve Fiona's mood. "You know, you've become sort of a shut for the last few weeks." Fiona glared at her, though Jaina only stared back somewhat disinterestedly. "What? Raven say something to piss you off or something?" "No, I have nothing to say to that bull-headed moron. And I just rather not go, I don't understand why nobody can just see this" Fiona said huffing as she went into the kitchen to get some drinks for both her and her guest, something Kat always taught her. Just as she reached for something to serve, Jaina pushed the fridge door closed. "I don't want a drink shrimp." She leaned on the fridge to block her way and poked Fiona on the forehead. "I want to know why you suddenly got depressed after getting away from Mommy. This was supposed to be a fresh start, wasn't it?" "It's just... It's nothing like I expected...." Fiona said quietly as she went to the sink to look out the window, "I thought everything was supposed to be different, but it just.... I still feel alone at times without Kat with me...." She told Jaina as she looked back at her. "So why'd you stay here when she headed out to the guild?" Jaina asked bluntly. "I'm no expert, but i'm pretty sure the best way to stick around someone is to go where they go." "Cuz the others will be there...." Fiona said looking down as she splashed some water on her face, "I just... I don't know what's wrong with me" She said looking back at her. Jaina sighed, scratching the back of her head with her one arm. "Look shrimp, I don't have time for twenty questions. Kat sent me over here to find out what's bugging ya'. So throw me a damn bone here." "I... I asked her if I could see a picture of our father, something to show the man that gave me life. and she could not..." Fiona said looking at her with sadness. To her, the only thing she ever wanted was love from her parents, but since both had fallen to their own times, she at leasted wanted to see what he looked like before. "Oh... I see." Jaina seemed surprised. Kat hadn't mentioned that particular detail to her, though she could probably guess the reason why. "Think I see the problem now." Jaina said slowly. "Sorry to say it honey, but Kat doesn't have a picture of your pops. Not anymore." Fiona sighed heavily as she looked over at Jaina with small tears producing on the side of her eyes, "I just... I just wish I could've met him..." She said looking back at the pictures Kat had of others that she met during her adventures. Jaina looked back at Kat's picture wall too, recognising a handful of people from her own travels. A thought occurred to her, and she looked back at Fiona quizzically. "What? You think she's holding out on you or something?" Fiona didn't respond, much to Jaina's surprise. "You don't seriously think she'd do that, do you?" "Everyone has their secrets, even those close to you, why should family be any different?" Fiona said thinking back to her time in the Nature Hunters, everything for them was a lie or secret, no one ever trusted anyone, even Sabriel. "Kat's not going to lie to you shrimp, not after the shit she went through to rescue you!" Jaina yelled, pulling on Fiona's cheek with her single remaining arm. "You can't tell me you’re suspicious of her over something stupid like that." "Owie!!!.....:" Fiona said groaning in pain as Jaina let her cheek go as she rubbed it. "It's not exactly easy for me to trust..." "I don't want to hear it shrimp." Jaina interrupted. "You got a sister whose worried sick about you, and half a guild who feels the same." She leaned back and placed her hand on her hip. "Don't go lumping us in with that mother of yours. We aren't going to stab you in the back Fiona, so stop thinking like that." All Fiona could do was look down on the floor as she realized that Jaina was right. She had a new life in the world and they were people that actually cared for her, and the only way for her to find peace was to trust that everything would turn out alright. She was shook back to reality by Jaina pulling her towards the door by the arm. "Come on, you and Kat need to have a little talk." Fiona was about to say something when they got to the door, but Jaina got a word in first. "You two are going to sort this out today, or I swear to god I'll put the both of you on cleanup duty for the rest of your lives." Fiona gulped at the woman's threat, she had never had this sort of treatment done to her before. She was being told off instead of being assaulted; and to her it was as if it was coming from a caring source no less, instead of her usual treatment back when she was in her mother's guild. Fiona's long walk through Merow City seemed even longer with Jaina pulling her along, though Jaina began to slow with fatigue as they neared the city's outskirts. She did her best to hide it however as the two women arrived at the Blazing Soul building. She half tackled the doors open, and pulled Fiona along behind her into a mostly empty main hall. The noise attracted the attention of everyone present, though Jaina scanned over the room until she found the person she was looking for sitting along at one of the guilds corner tables. "You." Kat sat straight up, surprised to see the pair of them together, while Fiona was dragged over to her and made to sit across from her by Jaina. Jaina then grabbed a chair from another table and sat on it backwards, resting her arm on the backrest. "You two. Talk. Now." Fiona looked over to her sister as she did the same, both confused about what to say to each other, especially after the fight the two had. Kat however, managed to tare her gaze away from Fiona for moment. Instead looking at Jaina, who only stared back at her with her single eye, seemingly liking straight through her. "Jaina, what are you trying to do? I asked you to talk to her, not drag her down to the guild." "I'm getting the pair of you to love each others company again. And it's your job to work it out, not mine." Jaina said tiredly, apparently growing annoyed from having to explain it. "So get to talking already, I still got stuff to do today." Fiona wanted to say what was on her mind, but she couldn't find the confidence to do so as she simply looked down at the ground, playing with her fingers as she continued to wish she herself was invisible so no one would have to see her. Kat remained staring at Jaina, still annoyed by what she had done, but she knew better than to get into an argument with her. She slowly looked back at Fiona, who still didn't make eye contact, and said. "Fiona, why won't you tell me what's wrong?" She stopped for a moment to wipe her eyes, trying her best not to cry in front of her sister. "Why won't you let any of us help you?" "I...I'm afraid..." Was all she could say before shaking with fear. "Afraid?" Kat was taken by surprise; of everything she could imagine, fear wasn't something she had considered. "Afraid of what Fiona? Mom tried to take you back once already, and we sent her goons packing." Kat suddenly remembered Fiona's condition with her implanted lacrima, and thought that was the cause. "And the thing with your lacrima hasn't come up again since we discovered it. Has it?" "Not those... Afraid of... You all..." Fiona said as she tried desperately not to cry, something that she would often get scolded for, to show weakness to anyone. Kat was shocked when Fiona was seen gripping her arms, actually digging her nails into them as blood started to come out. Kat jumped to her feet and ran to her sister's side to stop her from hurting herself, almost knocking the table over in the proses. "What do you mean your afraid of us? What did we do?" "I... am afraid to trust... don't know if I can truly trust anyone in the world..." She said with hiccups in her voice as she was trying so hard to not cry, not wanting anyone to see her or see the weakness inside of her that was born. Kat crouched down in front of Fiona, holding a hand in each of her own. "What do you mean you can't trust us? Fiona we share every..." She stopped herself, resting her butt on her heels as she thought back to a few weeks ago, when Fiona had begun shying away from other people. "This isn't about Dad is it?" Fiona didn't respond, but her expression changed slightly. "Is that it Fiona?" She asked earnestly. Fiona nodded as she looked up to meet her sister's eyes, "No... I... I felt more alone since you went to be with them..." She said looking down at her hands. "What are you talking about?" Kat recoiled the second she finished her sentence, thinking back on the past month since Fiona had moved in with her. She'd begun working more, trying to support them both for the first few weeks until Fiona got comfortable. Unfortunately, that meant taking twice as many jobs as usual, and apparently caused Fiona to feel neglected. "Fiona I..." She finally realised the mistake she had made, but couldn't think of the words to apologise. "I'm sorry sis, I didn't..." Kat felt something pushing into her back, and looked around to see Jaina poking her with her peg leg. She nodded up at Fiona when their eyes met, and Kat leaned up and hugged her sister around the neck. "I'm sorry Fiona, I didn't you to feel that way." She leaned back and looked Fiona in the eye. "I had to take more work to pay for the both of us. But I didn't mean to ignore you." Fiona felt her sister's warm as she finally lost it and began sobbing as she hugged her sister, feeling her hug getting tighter as she put her head on her shoulders. "Trust me alright?" Kat rested her head on Fiona's shoulder, trying her best to hide the fact that she had begun tearing up as well. "I'm not going to abandon you, so don't be upset, ok little sis?" Fiona was reduced to soft hiccups as she nodded, feeling happiness for the first time in years as she looked right into her sister's eyes and smiled as she hugged her again, "I love you Kat". Kat pulled her sister in close, a few tears flowing down her checks as the hugged each other, before they heard Jaina behind them. "And peace has been restored." She spun around on her chair and stood up as the sisters turned to look at her. "Oh, and Kat. Next time your pinched for cash, just ask. I'm a retired guild master remember? I've got more money stored away than I'd ever know what to do with." With that, Jaina strolled away, leaving the two sisters somewhat perplexed. Kat shook it off first and wiped her eyes, getting up from the ground to speak once. "Just know that you can come to me with anything, alright?" Both sisters nodded as they held in embrace, promising each other to always be truthful, and to never have secrets with each other. Back to present Through her reminiscing, Kat had failed to notice that she had wondered throughout the guild in circles. She backtracked to the entrance, losing track of exactly how much time had passed since inquiring about her sister. She rounded a corner and came into the guilds main hall, now full of civilians waiting out the storm of the assault on Nature Hunter. "Fiona?! Are you in here?!" She called while scanning over the crowd. There was no response, so Kat wandered deeper into the mob of refugees. "Fiona, answer me." Again she didn't get an answer, but spotted the young Taichi Marsh working at a registration desk. SHe slowly pushed her way through the people until she stood next to him at the desk. He didn't notice her at first, but was surprised when he did. "Hey Tai, have you seen Fiona around here?" "No, though the master made sure I had everyone tagged with a sound locator. Let me just bring it up and I'll track her down." He said letting out an echo location that echoed throughout the building, though he couldn't seem to locate her. "Hang on." He focused this time, widening his range to include several city blocks around the guild, still with no success. "That's strange, I can't seem to find her." Without waiting to find out what was wrong, Kat turned back and looked up at the ceiling. "Waylind! Gat one of your pawn things down here! Now!" She appeared to be shouting to herself, until a small ghost like creature flew through the guilds entrance a moment later. "Search the guild for Fiona, I'm coming up to you now." she turned to leave, but stopped and grabbed Taichi by the collar first. "You come too." "Wait why?!" Taichi asked as he was being dragged, but didn't get an answer as she kept pulling him towards Waylind. Kat had dragged Taichi to the roof of Phantom Breaker after a few minuets, joining Waylind and Peltin who stood watch. A large black humanoid creature crawled up from over the ledge, surprising both Taichi and Kat, but a magic circle appeared under it's feet and it faded from existence before ether of them could react. "Sorry Kat, no luck." Waylind looked out over the city, focusing on the still smoldering ruins in the distance. "What're the odds she just hitched up with one of the rescue groups?" "Think she'd have told us if she where doing that." Peltin said, still keeping a lookout for any sort of approaching threat. "You ain't going to like it kitten. But people who run off on their own generally got something to hide." "Who, Fiona? Honestly, I don't think she would be the type to just lie unless it was something really serious. Even I can sense it" Taichi said as he looked over at them. "Use your head kid." Waylind turned away from watching the city and poked his forehead under the rim of his hat. "She ain't at the guild and didn't tell anyone where she's goin'. So weather you think you can sense it or not, she up to somethin'." "That's..." Kat began, but was unable to think of anything to counter his point. "There's no way. She promised to keep out of trouble." she rocked back on her heals, unable to think of anything else but the promise Fiona had made her. "She couldn't have run off." "Yeah, keep telling yourself that." Peltin quipped. "Look kitten, this is coming from the former solder and the cynical old gang leader. Sorry to say it, but it looks like you're little sis pulled a fast one on all of us." "The best thing to do is echo locate the marker, it leaves a trail behind, we find the trail we find her" Taichi said looking at Kat. "Don't waist your energy kid." Peltin held up an arm to stop him. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out there's only one place she'd go after pulling a stunt like this." He glanced over at Kat, who appeared lost in thought over the whole ordeal, unable to process what her sister had done. "She's probably had this in mind since we shipped out of Bantia." "Well Kat, what should we do?" Taichi said looking over to her. Kat stood still for a moment, still not believing that Fiona had run off alone, when a sudden gunshot drew her attention. They all looked towards the sound to see Peltin had shot something in the distance with one of his pistols. "If your going to do anything, better do it soon." He nodded off into the distance, at what looked like a distant cloud. "We got company." After watching it for a moment, they could make out the cloud to actually be a massive swarm of monsters heading towards the city. Waylind held out both his hands, and 8 of his ghost like pawn minions jumped out of magic circles that formed at his feet. "Hostiles incomin'." His summons shot off into the sky and he looked back at Taichi. "Alert the others." Taichi nodded as he echoed the alert to everyone that was avalible as suddenly everyone was seen getting ready to fight and defend their home. Kat looked on as the mages of Phantom Breaker charged at the incoming swarm of monsters, wondering if they should have come along in the first place. Again, Peltin's shooting brought her back to reality. "If you're going to go after her, go now." He stopped to draw his other pistol. "If not, get your shit together and start fighting." Though it still took a second; Kat, seemingly working on instinct, held her hands out to the side and called. "Demon Soul: Lilim." Her hair turned green and a pair of wings sprouted from her head and lower back. "I'm going to look for her the second I get a chance." Peltin didn't say anything, only continuing to shoot at the fog of monsters flying at the city. She thought about dodging through the swarm and going after Fiona, then running to the first ship they could find and going home. But a look below her at the others fighting in the streets reaffirmed her resolve. She couldn't just abandon these people, not after everything they had don to help her and Fiona in the past. A pair of snapping mandibles immediately came into view, and an orb of magic formed in Kat's hand. "I don't have time for you. Mage Blast!" The monster was blown away in a flash of light, and Kat's wings transformed into a pair of large guns. "Get out of my way!" ---- The toxic landscape surrounding Nature Hunter was littered with the corpses of monsters, though there where still several more in the air surrounding Zumma. He appeared slightly winded, but was relatively unharmed. "Come on, who's next?" Just as another monster dove down at him, a strange wave of magic fell over them, and the beast appeared to slow in the air. Zumma was about to strike it down, not waiting for an explanation, when he saw a flash of red shoot past him. He turned to see a red cape blow up, revealing the guild mark of Blazing Soul sitting on the back of a young tanned skinned girl. "Fiona? What-?" Zumma was cut off when the magic around them faded, and the monster crashed head long into him. Zumma rolled to his feet, land a foot on the top of it's head and manipulated gravity to crush it into the ground. He reached up to his face as blood dripped from his forehead. He picked up his now broken glasses and put them in his pocket, flashing his reptilian eyes back at the guild as the monsters continued to surround them. "Damn kid. Your going to get yourself killed." Next Chapter - War Storm: Entrance Through The Gates Category:Flame Lizard Category:Phantombeast Category:Chapters Category:Storyline Category:Death Battle vs The Nature Hunters